Limburg ... a perpetual motion of recreation

About the emergence of Limburg and the Limburgers

Always on show

Look back on two hundred years of history.

This room zooms in on the last two centuries of the Province of Limburg. We start in 1794, the year in which the majority of the Netherlands came under French rule. A period which exerted great influence on the political, economic and religious development of the Netherlands, and thus Limburg as well. Since when do we talk of the Province of Limburg? What languages and dialects were spoken here? What were the economic factors behind it? How did the social relationships among one another look? What role did religion play? What makes someone a Limburger and in what way did the arrival of migrants influence the way of life of the indigenous population?

The years and events in this room can be read as part of a timeline, divided into five themes: control, belief, work, migration and identity. This chronology is clothed in a visual spectacle of authentic objects, documents, photos, film and surprising theme rooms. Step into the devotional shop, where you’ll be welcomed by a talkative sales assistant. Or visit the workshop in the factory of pottery giant, Petrus Regout, where Maastricht girls are forced to keep working by a ‘Dutch’ gangmaster. The noise of the shaft lift from a Limburg coalmine leads you to the living room of a miner’s family, where you’re welcome to take a seat at the table.